To be invincible depends on one's initiative; to defeat the enemy depends on the enemy's errors.

Life and the Arts:

Separate or Inseparable?

For once, there is an easy answer to a headline question. Naturally they are inseparable. The strategies required of life are the same as in the arts. If you are given the choice in life as the following: "Sport or life-long endeavor" or "Short term desire or Long term plan", what would you choose? Once again, an easy answer, but choice alone is not enough. I'm sure that most individuals would like the long term plan, but they don't have the dedication to fulfill the desire. The road of life has a good many pot holes along the way and sometimes detours are encountered that we hadn't planned for. If you knew of the detours, but chose to ignore them in your long term plan, you are going to fail in your endeavor. To begin a plan, knowing sure well that you will not be able to complete it, is a failure not to be overcome.

-- The dollar lost --

I know that most of you have seen the telephone commercial where they are explaining the value of a dollar. Well, there is a lot of truth in that, but not only with the dollar. You can relate just about anything you wish with the dollar and the result will be the same. If you see a dollar in the street, ignore it and go on, that dollar is forever lost. There is no way to retrieve it later. Enough dollars lost, could amount to quite a sum. If you are taking classes for whatever and miss one from time to time, their value is forever gone. Miss enough and you just as well not have gone at all as the continuity required is broken. Compare this to a life-time drip in a pond. If it takes a life-time of drips to fill the pond and 10 % of the drips never occur, the pond will never be filled. Now, you'll have to think about this in your own way to acquire the value of it.

Credit to Sempai-Dai Bodwell

Mr. Bodwell has come forth with a couple of good points in the last little bit, that I am going to expand on. One is the mental power of coming to class, whether or not you are late, and the other is concerning what I have forgot. The first is the mental boost that you receive after being present in a martial arts class. You don't even have to participate, just show up!

Just by being there, you witness, learn and reinforce the martial arts mental power that is so necessary. It is a "shot in the arm" required for improvement and continuance.

The second thing is "what I have forgot". I said, which was wrong, that what I had forgot was, more than likely, trash that wasn't worth remembering. Mr. Bodwell corrected me in stating that "it was the trash that brought us to where we are", or something to that effect. He was absolutely right. I learned from the "trash" that has been deposited in the "recycle bin". Items that have been put in the "recycle bin" have not been lost, just set aside not to be actively remembered. The system has learned from that trash, developed more trash and learned from that. It is the method necessary for improvement. A while back a comment was made referring to this somewhat. If a system is not constantly changing or adjusting, it is not improving and is essentially dead. If we were still training with swords and shields, our defenses today against guns, bombs and now the terrorist, would be worthless. You have to constantly adapt to the upcoming threats. For instance, the systems who still train in the old formats of posture and technique are losing before they get started. How do we know what the old formats are? They come from the "recycle bin" of trash.

Selected Points of History

1644-48: Sai introduced by Ch'en Yuan-pin

1645: Musahi passes away

1750: Budo emerges from bujutsu

1868: Samurai era ends

1882: Judo founded

1884: First Judo contest conducted

1887-89: Term "Karate" replaces "Te"

1900: China virtually eliminates martial arts

1901-02: Karate taught publicly for first time

1903: Judo demonstrated at the White House

1905: Karate taught as a sport for first time

1907: Americas first Judo dojo founded

"Close or Far"

Once a confrontation starts and contact is made, closeness is mandatory for control. Even when things don't appear to be working as you would like, maintain contact with your opponent. Wait and your time will come. When it does, don't hold back and crush them.

Tae Kwon Do Defined

The philosophy behind Tae Kwon Do begins with the meaning of the name itself. Translated

from Korean the word "Tae" means "strike with the foot". The word "Kwon" means "strike with

the hand". And the word "Do" means "art" or "way of life". Tae Kwon Do is not only a system of self-defense, it is also a system for living.

Wushu Philosophy

"Weak and exposed in appearance;

But powerful when unleashed.

One's reactions may start afterwards,

But the response arrives there first."

FORMS AND CLASSIFICATIONS

OF WUSHU

To attempt to classify Chinese Wushu is very difficult because of the number and variety of styles in the enormous country of China. Don't forget that one-fourth of the world population is in China! Traditionally, Chinese martial arts are classified by one of three methods:

1.Internal or External styles.

2.Southern or Northern styles.

3.As "Shaolin" or "Wudang" or "Ermei."

Roughly speaking, the difference between internal and external styles can refer to whether the strength is from the torso and legs (internal) or whether the strength is derived from training of the more specific arm and leg muscles (external). The word "internal" often connotes a more pliable martial style. Southern or Northern styles naturally refer to the general origin, but finer distinctions are often made about style differences of these two schools.

Shaolin boxing styles are generally said to be derived from the form of fighting practiced at the Shaolin Temple in Henan province. Similarly, Wudang is the name of a mountain used by Taoists in Hubei province and Ermei is a significant religious mountain in Sichuan province.